| 摘要 |
A flexible, small diameter catheter for effecting various surgical procedures, such as opening a restriction formed of an undesirable material, e.g., atherosclerotic plaque, in a lumen, e.g., an artery, of a living being. The catheter includes a working head having at least one, non-sharp impacting surface arranged to be moved, e.g., rotated, at a high rate of speed by an associated drive means within the catheter. The catheter with the moving working head is brought into engagement to effect the opening of the restriction by dilating the artery and/or removing undesirable material therefrom. The removal of undesirable material results from the impacting surface impacting the material of the restriction repeatedly. A fluid is provided through the catheter to the working head and a portion is thrown radially outward. The fluid at the working head also flows in a vortex to cause any particles broken off from the restriction back to the moving working head where they are impacted again and again to further reduce their size. Such action creates particles of sufficiently small size that they may be enabled to flow distally without significant deleterious effects to distally located tissue.
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